Machine for forming pipes in the ground



June 20, 1961 A. H. CHENEY 2,989,012

MACHINE FOR FORMING PIPES IN THE GROUND Filed Nov." 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 20, 1961 A. H. CHENEY 2,989,012

MACHINE FOR FORMING PIPES IN THE GROUND Filed Nov. 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 2,989,012 MACHINE FOR FORMING PIPES IN THE GROUND Alwyn Halley Cheney, 23 Vancouver Ave., Springbank, South Australia, Australia Filed Nov. 27, 1957, Ser. No. 699,212 Claims priority, application Australia Nov. 28, 1956 3 Claims. (Cl. 111- This invention relates to a machine for forming pipes in the ground.

It is already known that according to the art of laying pipes in the ground that it is old to dig a channel slightly wider than the width of the pipe sections to be laid therein and to join these sections to produce a continuous pipe.

While it is possible to form pipes continuously by the methods of molding them, known heretofore, the methods were open to the disadvantage that it was still necessary to exacuate a channel of the required width of the pipe, deposit the aggregate therein and then move the molding mechanism through the aggregate to form the pipe while the aggregate was being poured.

Problems have also existed in obtaining a pipe having the required strength and character necessary for the purpose and it is the object of this invention to provide an improved machine for forming pipes in the ground which shall be so arranged that the pipes are accurately and carefully formed and are produced in such a way that the required strength of the material is insured, features of the invention being the use of a mechanism which will require only a very narrow channel to be formed but will nevertheless allow a relatively large pipe to be produced in the ground, which pipe may be reinforced if this is required and which may be otherwise treated to insure required characteristics.

The machine according to my invention comprises means to cut a channel in the ground at a determinable depth, means to widen and shape the channel at determinable pipe level to the external dimensions of the pipe, a mandrel to form the hollow of the pipe, means to locate the mandrel in the said shaped channel, means to temporarily close the channel above the said mandrel, a chute extending down the said channel, and means to force concrete from said chute to discharge around said mandrel under consolidating pressure.

Features of the invention such as means to vibrate the concrete as it is set, means to provide longitudinal tensioned reinforcing wires, means to watch the formation of the inside of the pipe, and other features will be referred to in the specification, but to enable the invention to be fully appreciated, embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional side elevation of a section of the machine which effects the digging of the channel and the shaping of same to produce the opening for the pipe,

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of the ground showing the shape of the channel and the opening produced,

FIG. 3 shows the following section of the machine which actually lays the pipe,

FIG. 4 is a section corresponding to FIG. 2 but showing how the pipe is positioned in the shaped channel,

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the machine corresponding to FIG. 3 but showing a more advanced type of machine used when it is desirable to apply longitudinal reinforcing to the pipe,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary section of a detail of the machine on line 6-6 of FIGURE 5, and

FIG. 7 is a section of same on line 77 of FIG. 5.

Referring first to the machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 3:

The machine comprises an excavating section 1 and a pipe laying section 2. constructed as separate units, each 2,989,012 Patented June 20, 1961 being adapted to be drawn by a tractor or other mechamsm or both machines may be used together and may operate one immediately behind the other.

The excavating section of the machine comprises a frame 3 supported on ground wheels 4, the frame carrying on it a cradle 5 which may be raised and lowered by means of the hydraulic jacks 6 the piston rods 7 of which engage arms 8 on the cradle. Frame 3 is coupled to section 1 by coupling element C diagrammatically shown.

The hydraulic jacks 6 are carried on slides 9 so that the cradle 5 can be moved sideways as well as being capable of changes in elevation.

Supported on the cradle 5 by means of arms 10 which are connected by means of pivots 11 at one end to the cradle and by means of pivots 12 at the other end to an excavator frame 13 is the excavator mechanism itself, this comprising a chain 14 having cutting members 15 thereon, the chain passing around lower sprocket means 16 and an upper sprocket 17 carried respectively on shafts 18 and 19 on the excavator frame 13 so that the chain 14 can be driven by actuating the shaft 19 from a hydraulic pump 20 which in turn drives a hydraulic motor 21 coupled to the shaft 19 so that as the pump 20 displaces fluid in any required quantity, the motor 21 will be driven thereby to drive the shaft 19 and to thus move the chain 14 to cause the cutters 15 to engage the ground and to cut a channel 23 as shown more particularly in FIGS. 2 and 4, the channel being of only a relatively narrow width just sufficient to give access to allow the lower part of the channel to be widened out by means of a cutter mechanism and during pouring of the concrete to allow the concrete to be fed down through the channel 23 to the pipe forming mechanism.

The shaft 18 carries on it and on each side of the chain 14, a series of cutting blades 24 which are somewhat arcuate, as shown, and which are shaped to cut the two semi-circular portions 25 as shown in FIG. 2, these portions then complete the shape required for the final pipe.

It is to be noted that during the cutting of these side bits 25 some amount of dirt is dropped. To remove this dirt the chain 14 then may be caused to cut somewhat deeper than the cutters 24 to leave the lower part 26 at the base of the channel 23 below what would normally be the lowermost part of the pipe and the depth of this part 26 of the channel is arranged so that any loose dirt falling into same will approximately fill it to leave the completed hole 27 ready for the pouring or forming of the pipe.

It will be seen that the hydraulic pump 20 is driven from the power take-off of the tractor through a telescopic shaft 28 and a universal joint 29, but it will be clear that the method of driving the mechanism can be varied provided adequate power is available to move the chain 14 to cause the cutters 15 to remove the earth and carry it upward on the forward side of the chain and to discharge it into a chute 30 which will lead it to the side of the machine so that it may then be available to close the channel 23.

The members 10 which support the excavator frame 13 are adapted to be raised and lowered about the pivot 11 by means of a hydraulic cylinder 32, the piston 33 of which is coupled by a pivot 34 to the members 10, while the cylinder 32 is coupled by means of a pivot pin 35 to the cradle 5.

To allow angulation of the excavator frame 13 about the pivot pin 12, a second hydraulic cylinder 36 is used, which is connected by means of a pivot pin 37 to a portion of the excavator frame 13 and which has its piston rod 38 connected to the pivot pin 34 previously mentioned, the arrangement outlined thus allowing the members 10 to angulate about the pivot pin 11 on the cradle 5 so that the free end of the members can rise and fall, the angle of the excavator frame 13 being at the same time variable by the cylinder 36.

The mechanism for laying the pipe comprises a frame 40 supported at its forward end by means of the Wheels 41 and at the rear by wheels 42 on steerable arms 43, the arms being connected to the frame 40 by means of pins 44.

Carried on the frame 40 is a chute 45 which is relatively long but narrow so that it can fit into the channel 23 formed by the excavating section 1, the chute 45 being open at the bottom to a revolvable mandrel 46 carried on a shaft 47 supported in bearings 48 and 49 in the housing 50, the housing 50 having an upwardly extending portion 51 in which is disposed a drive shaft 52 having on it a pinion 53 which meshes with the gear wheel 54 on the shaft 47, so that as the shaft 52 is driven by means of the hydraulic motor 55 at the top of the section 51, the shaft 47 and likewise the mandrel 46 will be revolved.

The mandrel 46 has on it a spiral blade 56 the purpose of which is to feed the aggregate 57 from the chute 45 along the mandrel 46 into the space between the mandrel 46 and the outer wall of the excavated hole 27 so that the aggregate is packed into this to be forced tightly against the wall of the hole but is prevented from moving inwardly by means of the mandrel 46 which, as it moves along and revolves, has a trowelling action on the inside of the pipe which insures that the pipe 58 which is formed by the mechanism has a smooth internal bore 59 while at the same time the pipe is formed of a consolidated mix because of the action of the spiral blade 56 which causes packing to take place in any required amount.

The amount of packing which takes place can of course be controlled by the rate of forward movement of the pipe laying section 2 in relation to the rate at which the pipe is formed, and it has been found convenient in some cases to simply drive the mandrel 46 and to allow the spiral blade 56 to move the pipe laying section forward by pressure exerted on the aggregate through this spiral blade 56, but it will be obvious that by carefully controlling this pressure in relation to forward movement, any desired amount of consolidation can take place.

Where it is desired to use a vibrator, this may be achieved by having a diaphragm 60 in a section of the wall 61 which trails from the rear of the chute 45 and which has a width sufficient to prevent an upward flow of the concrete as it is being consolidated into the channel 23, this vibrator taking any usual or approved form such as a solenoid 62 which is coupled to a plunger 63 attached to the diaphragm 60.

The member 50 which supports the mechanism serves as a guide for the unit and if this is mounted in line with the front wheels as shown, it will be obvious that the machine can follow along a channel and will form the pipe in it as it progresses.

As it is necessary to raise and lower the pipe laying mechanism in relation to the frame 40, the chute 45 is carried on a pair of parallel motion arms 65 connected by means of pivot pins 66 at one end to the rear of the chute 45 and by means of pivot pins 67 at the other end to the frame 40; movement of the arms about the pivot 67 being regulated by means of a hydraulic cylinder 68 which is connected by means of trunnions 69 to the frame 40, and the piston rod 70 of which connects to the lower pin 66 so that as the piston rod 70 moves in relation to the cylinder 68, the pins 66 and thus the chute 45 and the mechanism carried thereby is raised and lowered about the pins 67 on the frame 40.

The foregoing mechanism is one of the simpler embodiments of the invention which allows effective pipe laying to be carried out where the pipe does not need to be reinforced.

For more elaborate installations the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 may be used.

In this case the channel 23 is again formed by the excavating section 1 and is shaped to take the pipe.

The machine in this case comprises a frame mounted on wheels 81 to allow the frame 80 to be raised and lowered by means of the hydraulic jacks 82 the piston rods 83 of which are coupled to transverse somewhat V-shaped runners 84 which are adapted to take rollers 85 on spindles 86 which are rigidly secured to the frame 80, this arrangement therefore allowing the frame 80 to be raised and lowered in relation to the ground and also allowing it to be turned about a vertical axis by moving the rollers 85 in the runners 84.

Carried by the frame 80 to be movable longitudinally thereon is a chute 87 which corresponds somewhat to the chute 45 of the earlier embodiment, the chute 87 depending from a frame 88 which is mounted on rollers 89 carried in runners 90 which form part of the frame 80 as shown more particularly in FIG. 6.

The purpose of this mounting is to allow some amount of fore and aft movement of the chute 87' in relation to the frame 80, the chute 87 having at the top a hopper 92 into which the mix for the pipe is fed and from which it then falls into the chute 87 down which it is forcibly carried by means of a pair of spiral agitators 93 which force it down into an annular space 94 outside of a housing 95 along which space the aggregate is then forced by means later referred to.

To allow the inside of the pipe to be viewed a tube has on it an eye piece .101 and a prism 102 which acts in conjunction with a prism 103 and a tube 104 to allow lens system 105 to pick up an image from a mirror 106, a light source 107 being provided to illuminate the inside surface of the pipe so that the finish can be viewed as production continues.

The housing 95 is revolved by having a crown wheel 110 on it engaged by a pinion 111 driven by a shaft 112 through a pair of bevel wheels 113 from a shaft 114, this shaft also driving, by means of the pair of bevel wheels 115 and a second set of bevel wheels 1 16, the shaft of the spiral 117, the drive from the one bevel wheel of the pair 115 to the other bevel wheel of the pair 116 being transmitted through the shaft 118. A slury of cement and sand may then be fed through chute 119 and will be urged by the spiral 117 through the outlet 120 of the tube 121 housing the spiral 117, the slurry being wiped by blades 122 and discharged through the apertures 123 of the mandrel 124, so as to form a lining for the concrete pipe.

The shaft 114 can of course be driven by any suitable means such as the hydraulic motor 125.

A housing 95 is provided with a spiral 126 which forces the material fed to the unit through the chute 87 by the spirals 93 into the space between the outside of the mandrel 124 and the inner Wall of the excavation.

Vibration is applied to the mix just ahead of the mandrel 124 by a ring 127 which encircles the housing 95 and has fingers on it which contact the aggregate, the ring be ing mounted on the end of a rod 128 which has a vibratory motion imparted to it by any suitable mechanism 129 driven by means of the belt 130 from the pulley 131 on the shaft 114, the vibration tending to consolidate the aggregate at the point where it is being forced onto the wall of the excavation by the mandrel 124.

A member or shield 132 is again used corresponding to the member 61, this serving to close the channel 23 where it joins the larger diameter of the excavation 27 to prevent the concrete from flowing upwardly in this channel 23.

Wires are positioned longitudinally in the pipe so formed by providing a series of reels 133 on a shaft 134 carried on a bracket 135 On the frame 80, the wires 136 passing down a tube 137 and curving around to be guided by the fingers 138 on the vibrator ring 127, the wires being tensioned as the machine proceeds if this is required or being simply left in place as the concrete is formed around them.

It will be obvious that it would be possible to stretch the Wires as the pipe making continues and in this way a pre-stressed concrete pipe can be formed by the mechamsm.

A shield 139 insures that the excavation is cleaned as it moves forward, the shield being supported by means of a stem 140 projecting forwardly from a frame member 141 which moves conjointly with the chute 87' and the remaining mechanism which is carried by the rollers 89 in the guide members 90.

A spring .142 between the frame 88 and the frame 80 provides loading so that frame 80 tends to remain in one position under spring loading but can be displaced longitudinally of the movement of the unit in that the rollers 89 can move in the guides 90 against the action of the spring 142.

The operation of this unit, like that earlier described with reference to FIG. 4, is simple in that it is merely necessary to feed the aggregate into the hopper 92 from which it will then be fed down the chute 87 by the spirals 93 and will issue around the mandrel 124 by means of which it will be forced against the inner wall of the excavation to form the finished pipe.

As this mandrel is revolved with the housing 95, the spiral blades 126 will cause the required forcing of the aggregate into the space between the mandrel 124 and the wall of the excavation 27 to: provide a pipe of the required strength.

A valve 143 is actuated by the shield 139 by way of push rod 144 to control the elevation of the frame 80 in relation to the excavated hole 27.

The valve 143 controls a flow of hydraulic fluid from any suitable source to the hydraulic jacks 82 through the lines 149.

Raising or lowering of the shield 139 correspondingly operates the valve.

The pump 20 of the excavator feeds the motor 21 through a double pipe line 150, the hydraulic fluid being pumped by the pump to the motor and returned after driving same.

The hydraulic cylinders 32 and 3 6 are actuated by hydraulic fluid taken from the usual hydraulic pump of the tractor, the control lever r151 regulating flow through the hydraulic line 152 to the cylinder 32, the control lever 153 regulating flow to the cylinder 36 through the hydraulic line 154, while the control lever 155 regulates the flow through the line 156 to the two hydraulic jacks 6.

The hydraulic motor -5 of the pipe layer is driven from the prime mover 158 through a double pipe line 159.

What I claim is:

1. A machine for forming a pipe in the ground comprising an excavator adapted to cut a channel in the ground at a determinable depth but of lesser width than the pipe to be formed, cutter blades on said excavator to widen and shape the channel at determinable pipe level to the external dimensions of the pipe whereby a key-hole shaped channel is formed, power means on said excavator, drive means interconnecting said power means with said excavator and said cutter blades to drive said excavator and said cutter blades, a pipe layer frame and means connecting the latter to the excavator to follow the excavator, a pipe layer means supporting below said pipe layer frame, a mandrel of cylindrical shape and of a diameter along its length equal to the inside diameter of the pipe to form the bore of the said pipe, a chute on said pipe layer frame extending down into said channel, a housing on the lower end of said chute, bearing means in said housing positioned to rotatably support the mandrel coaxially with said bore and rearwardly of said housing, a power unit mounted on said frame, drive means interconnecting said power unit with said mandrel whereby said mandrel is rotated about its axis, said housing engaging the widened portion of said channel whereby said mandrel is located axially in the said shaped channel, further means on said chute extending rearwardly at the bottom of said chute whereby said channel is temporarily closed above said mandrel, and helical blades secured on the periphery of said mandrel to feed concrete from said chute around said mandrel and consolidate the concrete in the channel to form the said pipe.

2. A machine according to claim 1 further comprising vibrator means on said further means and adapted for contact with said concrete being discharged to assist in consolidating said concrete.

3. A machine according to claim 1 further comprising means on said housing to feed longitudinal reinforcing wires into the said widened channel around the said mandrel, and vibrator means on said further means adapted for contact with said concrete being discharged to assist in consolidating said concrete around said reinforcing wires.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 857,588 Boyle June 25, 1907 952,488 Wiggins Mar. 22, 1910 1,000,638 Stewart Aug. 15, 1911 1,153,599 Carr Sept. 14, 1915 1,171,579 Atterbury Feb. 15, 1916 1,303,399 Ryan May 13, 1919 1,371,752 Funk Mar. 15, 1921 1,492,642 Lake May 6, 1924 2,406,025 Moor Aug. 20, 1946 2,718,684 Bjorksten Sept. 27, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 713,256 Great Britain Aug. 11, 1954 

